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CHAPTER 24
Isabella
Alarge swell of applause erupted across the bar. None of the other women seated at our table seemed to notice, but I turned my head. Part of me was curious as to what the commotion was about. But I had to admit that my curiosity flame was fanned because Jimmy was in that area.
I’d seen him when we’d walked in, and thought that he was going to come over and say hi, but he hadn’t. The girls and I had been in Southern Comfort for close to two hours now, and he’d kept his distance the entire time.
It was disappointing that he hadn’t spoken to me, but there was a silver lining: he’d seen me in this outfit. I’d selected it specifically hoping that I’d see him tonight. I’d never worn a neckline as daring as the one I had on now, and I usually kept the color palette of my wardrobe to muted tones, but my current shirt was crimson red. And my jeans might as well have been painted on.
From what I could see, the disruption was centered around Kevin Bacon. He’d been making the rounds and taking pictures with people. Apparently, he was Instafamous. People got very excited to see him.
As crazy as I’d thought it had been the first time I’d seen him walking around the bar, after spending time there I couldn’t remember what had struck me as strange in the first place. This town, and its residents, were definitely having an effect on me.
I turned back and was doing my best to concentrate on the company at the table, but my eye kept wandering to one resident in particular. Jimmy was holding court at the far end of the bar with the men that Cheyenne had said were commonly referred to as the Three Stooges, while they thought of themselves as the Three Wise Men.
That was the other benefit of Jimmy not coming over to talk to me. I’d been able to observe him. Watching him interact with the people around him was more of a turn-on than I’d ever thought it could be. When he spoke to people, their faces lit up. He had a seemingly effortless way of lifting everyone’s spirits.
It was hot. Very hot.
“Well…” Cheyenne lifted her shot glass in cheers. “Here’s to what might be my last night as a Comfort.”
She hadn’t brought up the looming test results before this, and no one else had either. Reagan and Nadia had told us a lot of stories from their college days, they’d been roommates and had had some hysterical nights. I’d sensed that they were trying to keep the mood up, and distract Cheyenne from the stressful situation.
Now that she’d spoken about it, it was clear they’d been right to do so, if the dark cloud that had moved in was any indication.
“You’ll always be a Comfort,” Reagan assured her.
Cheyenne shrugged before downing her fourth shot of the night, this one was a Melon Ball. Reagan, Nadia, and I followed her lead. It was sweeter than I’d expected. It made sense—the clue was in the name. When we’d had a Fireball, that one had been hot.
I’d never been a big drinker. Without any real friends to speak of, underage drinking had never been an issue. And once I came of age, I was consumed with completing my degree and working full time. Getting wasted wasn’t really an option because I had too many responsibilities.
Using the back of her hand, Cheyenne wiped her mouth. “It’s not that I care about the name as much as I don’t want to be the outsider, again. I was just starting to feel like I might be part of the family.”
Since I’d never felt like a part of anything, I had no idea what to say. I wished I were better in these situations. My chest tightened, and I knew my social anxiety was ramping up. Even the alcohol wasn’t helping.
“I think there are two types of family: the ones you’re born into, and the ones you choose. You’re lucky that you have both. It doesn’t matter if James Comfort is your biological father or not, you’re definitely Sabrina Comfort’s daughter, and you are your brothers’ sister. Nothing’s going to change that,” Nadia effortlessly reassured her.
Why couldn’t I have thought of saying something like that?
Cheyenne nodded. “You’re right. And if James Comfort isn’t my father, then maybe that would explain why he let my grandparents take me.”
I could see from the look in her eye that it was painful for her to revisit the past, but she was trying to make the best of it. She’d been the same way in school. I’d always admired that quality about her.
I remembered that freshman year, she’d been bullied by a group of upper-class girls. When it had started, she’d had no clue why they chose to single her out, no one did. Later, we found out that it was because Bianca Dell’s boyfriend had seen Cheyenne one day when he came to the school to pick Bianca up and had commented on how hot she was.
That was all it took for an entire group of girls to target her. They put a dead rat, a bag of feces, and other horrifically unmentionable items in her locker. Every day, she’d be scared to open it, for fear that something horrible and disgusting would come out of it.
And for a couple of weeks, not one day had gone by that there hadn’t been something there.
Even before she knew who was doing it, or why, she’d say that she felt sorry for the perpetrators. She said that she would rather be on the receiving end of the harassment than one of her harassers. She said that anyone who would treat another human being like that must be miserable and unhappy. I remember admiring how mature she’d been, how she’d handled the situation with grace and class.
It seemed that was still how she handled difficult situations.
“Anyway,” Cheyenne shook her head and turned her attention to Reagan, “speaking of family, when are you going to let my brother put a ring on it, already?”
Reagan blushed and I had to smile. My first impression of Reagan had been that she reminded me of all the women that worked for my father. She was polished, intelligent, poised, and unreadable. The woman had a poker face that I was sure served her well in her legal career.
But when Billy’s name was mentioned or he stopped by the table to check on us, all of that ice queen persona melted and pure love shone through. It made me believe that the sort of love I’d seen in movies and read about in books actually existed.
